Sunday, April 15, 2012

Well, it’s been quite a while since I blogged here for several reasons.One, it’s been a busy few months for me personally and secondly, I’ve not been in the mood and I didn’t have much to report on.Now I do.

It’s been a 2+ year experiment working on reversing my diabetes.I’ve gone through a lot of experiments.In the beginning of my journey, I was mainly following a carbohydrate pared down ADA type of diet.What I mean by that is I was eating low fat and fairly low carb too.I never did adhere to the high carb, high grain, high fruit diet that most diabetic educators recommend.I instinctively knew better than that from the get go.

I will admit that I lost some weight while on that diet.I used low fat everything from cheeses to milk to low fat turkey and chicken, low fat yogurt, sour cream and mayo, etc.I ate more salads with low fat dressing, switched to brown rice and pasta.I ate more bean and legumes and oatmeal which seemed to be suggested by many of the diabetic web sites.I added some supplements as you can see on my supplements page and my blood sugars did go down quite a bit.It wasn’t good enough though.I still had blood sugar rises after meals as high as 180 and fasting numbers in the 150’s.Well, that was way better than the 200’s but it wasn’t going to save me from neuropathy, kidney damage or all the other terrible stuff that diabetics are in for.It was at this point that I decided to go on metformin for a month.

After a month on medication and blood sugar levels virtually the same or maybe 10 points down on average, I knew that I needed to change things up.It was also around this same time that I started my “Reversing Diabetes” face-book page and my experimentation with myself began in earnest.It was also at this time that I took my last diabetes medication.

I started studying and reading.Dr Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution fell into my hands and finally a light went on in my head!I was doing this wrong!Well, mostly wrong anyway.I started to experiment on my favorite foods and my favorite dishes.I was shocked that some of my favorite dishes were ruining all of my good intentions!That Dreamfields pasta, so highly recommended for diabetics, raised my sugars higher than regular pasta and kept it up for days!My bean soup had to go, oatmeal had to go.My meals needed to be altered.So I tested and I altered many of my staple meals.Other meals or foods that could not be altered just had to go!I tested my blood sugar after one of my low fat protein smoothies and I was shocked!I looked at the label on my low fat yogurt.Yikes, 21 grams of sugar? What was I doing to myself?

I read Atkins, and Rosedale, Mark Sisson, Gary Taubes and Dr. William Davis, author of Wheat Belly. Slowly, I removed processed, boxed foods from my diet.I got rid of seed oils and margarines after learning how toxic they are to the body.I gave up grains.Yes, all grains!Most sauces like ketchup and spaghetti sauces had to go but I found low carb and no carb substitutes that I can use.I went full fat.I now eat eggs, cream, butter, bacon, full fat sour cream, grass fed beef, pork and yes, I eat the skin on chicken.I still can’t believe that at one point I was eating Egg Beaters which is made out of vegetable oil. Yuk!

So where am I at today and what are my stats?Today, I eat a modified VLC (very low carb, less than 30 grams carbs per day) Paleo diet of meat, green leafy vegetables, eggs, nitrate free bacon, cream, nuts and cheeses.I make meat broth soups with lots of healthy vegetables and I leave the fat on the broth.I use carefully chosen seasonings and make my own dressings for my salads.I exercise following HIIT.Intense short bursts of aerobic exercises along with pushing, pulling and squatting type exercises.I will discuss that in another post.

My stats since going VLC Paleo are that I see a steady blood sugar that never changes more than 10 points at any time of the day.My average blood sugar throughout each day is from 89-110, usually not going over 110.My A1C will not be tested again until June but if my averages hold true my A1C should be at about5.5 or so. My blood lipids are now normal, and my triglycerides are down more than 100 points from what they were in my low fat eating days. I am on no medications at all.I also been able to reduce my thyroid medications to half!

I am not finished yet.It is my goal to have an average blood sugar under 95 and an A1C of 5.0 or less .I will not be content until that day arrives.I know I have more weight to lose.That has been a struggle for me but my health is so much improved and I know that I am adding years to my life because of my “contest” with myself to achieve normal blood sugars.

I hope that I can inspire others in their journey through the diabetes maze.I am not at all deprived!I do not feel that I am missing out.In fact, I believe that others are missing out because they do not know the truth about how much the SAD (standard American diet) can hurt them, their children and their grandchildren. I wish I could change the whole world's thinking on diet. I can't. The world is slowly waking up to the truth and will continue to as word gets out about what is really causing these modern epidemics. I hope it is soon!

About Sandy

Hi, I'm Sandy. I'm married, have 3 grown kids and two granddaughters, 7 year old Delia and 4 year old Corabelle.
I retired from my banking job in Nov. 2014 to pursue a diploma course in Nutritional Therapy and Detox Specialist with a Functional Medicine slant.
I was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes in December of 2009. I went in for my routine physical which included a fasting glucose test. It was 225 that day. A follow-up A1c test was 8.6 clearly proving what I didn't want to be true. Like my mother, my brother, my sister and the generation before us, I had finally crossed over. I had not dodged the bullet. After the shock and my 3 week long pity party I became determined to find a way to manage and reverse it.
This is where I began my blog. I have been learning to manage diabetes since 2009 with a basic low carb diet and beginning in Dec. 2012, a high fat, low carb ketogenic diet.
A ketogenic diet is the diet that I currently eat and advocate for all type 2 diabetics to keep blood sugar in or close to normal non-diabetic range.
It is my desire to share my journey with other type 2 diabetics to perhaps aid them in their own journeys.